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Homegrown Concerts from the American Folklife Center

The American Folklife Center's Homegrown concert series presents the very best of traditional music and dance from a variety of folk cultures thriving in the United States. All concerts are free of charge, do not require tickets for admission, and are presented from noon to 1:00 p.m. in the Library's historic Coolidge Auditorium or the intimate Whittall Pavilion. One of goals of the series is to bring the multicultural richness of American folk arts from around the country to the Capitol. To make sure that we are getting the very best artists from all regions of the country, we work closely with state folklorists in each state, who advise us on artists and styles of performance that are important in their regions. The Center also works with several other areas of the Library, and several outside partners, including the Millennium Stage of the Kennedy Center, to stage this series of concerts. For more information about Homegrown Concerts and other AFC events, call the Folklife Research Center at (202) 707-5510, or email [email protected].

In addition to being a series of concerts for the public to enjoy, the Homegrown series is also an important acquisitions project for the Center. The Library of Congress has been documenting traditional music by staging and recording performances since the 1930s, when Alan Lomax recorded Jelly Roll Morton in the Coolidge Auditorium, and many other musicians in the Library's recording lab. This has resulted in a great number of high-quality recordings in the American Folklife Center archive. The Homegrown concerts are also documented and become part of the permanent collections of the Library of Congress for future generations to enjoy and study.